


Rejolt

by stardropdream



Category: Kobato
Genre: F/M, Past Relationship(s), Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-24
Updated: 2013-02-24
Packaged: 2017-12-03 10:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/697393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardropdream/pseuds/stardropdream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Toshihiko meets Kobato again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rejolt

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted March 25, 2012.

  
It’s when he’s walking down the street of his neighborhood that he first sees her. But he recognizes his old teacher, first. Fujimoto-sensei, who was always helping Sayaka-sensei. He still remembers them well, even all these years later. He runs into them, occasionally. It’s a small enough neighborhood that there are usually familiar faces nearby. His time at the nursery was always a happy one, after all. So of course he would remember.   
  
He spots him from down the street, hand-in-hand with a high school girl he doesn’t know. At first he’s surprised—she seems a little young for Fujimoto-sensei, but then he catches him smiling at her, and it seems okay.   
  
But seeing her, he feels himself jolt, as if in recognition. Something lurches inside him, as if he’s always known her and this was a final reunion after so much time passed. He chides himself, silently, in the over-the-top reaction. She is cute. That must be why.   
  
But when she sees him, she seems to light up, smiling brightly and eyes wide.   
  
“Toshihiko-kun!” she exclaims with such familiarity and delight that he can’t help but feel himself blush intensely—and unsure why.   
  
“I—um—” he begins and feels the blush increase. It isn’t like him to be without something to say—he was always a loud, opinionated person. And yet now he is struck dumb.   
  
As soon as she’s shouted his name, she stops, eyes flying wider. She touches at her mouth, looking unsure. She seems to look embarrassed, too, looking up at Fujimoto-sensei with the same wide eyes as before. Then she looks back at him and bows quickly.   
  
“I—uh, you see… I’ve heard so much about you from Fujimoto-san! My name’s Kobato Hanato. It’s very nice to meet you!” She bows a few more times, bobbing up and down.   
  
He nods numbly, still dazed and, to his horror, blushing like crazy. She’s cute. She’s really cute. He glances at Fujimoto-sensei, who looks a bit grumpy—although he always looks that way, so it isn’t as if that’s new. But he remembers Fujimoto-sensei always seeming a bit sad, too, and right now he just seems grumpy—but happy underneath it all. So that’s good.   
  
Toshihiko scratches at the back of his neck, and to his horror, that’s red, too. He doesn’t know why he’s reacting that way, really. She—Kobato Hanato—is cute and seems nice, sure, but he doesn’t know her. He can’t quite meet her eye.   
  
“Oh, you too,” he adds hurriedly when he realizes he hasn’t answered her, bowing quickly. He stares down at the ground, feeling the heat in his face and wishing it would just go away.   
  
They exchange pleasantries, but the conversation stays short. They all have places to go.   
  
When Fujimoto-sensei and his girlfriend walk away, Toshihiko can’t help but watch her go, and when he does, his heart does a strange plummet into his gut in a way it never has before. He rubs at his burning cheek idly, watching until they turn the corner and are gone.   
  
He watches her go. His eyes don’t stray from her, and at this point he’s even stopped noticing the intense blush in his face.   
  
Kobato Hanato. He muses on the name as he walks home, determined not to forget it.


End file.
